Picked up a super nice truck with an engine issue. Today I began the autopsy on the engine and discovered the cause of the problem. The pan is a rear sump with the large clean out plate in the bottom. After removing the plate I could see that the strainer on the pick up was close to 2" off the bottom of the pan. 2" is close to the full mark on the dipstick so obviously the engine had been starved for oil. I guess the the person that rebuilt the engine installed the wrong pick up. Such a shame as the engine rebuild looks like it cost a lot of money. I'll post some pics tomorrow but I need to know where to get a new correct pick up from. Also what do you think happened here?

 

It sounds like a Car engine had a Truck pan slapped on it, and the pickups are significantly different. You can either put a Car pan on it and keep the pickup, or buy a Truck pickup and use the Truck pan.

Did the bearings get scorched? or did it seize?

 

I thought the car pans were front sump so the pickups wouldn't fit a truck pan. Lots of tiny bearing flakes in the bottom of the pan but no larger pieces. The engine turns freely. I will pull a few bearing caps tomorrow.

 

Some cars may have been, but I'm running a Merc (car) oil pan that is rear sump. The car pan option is a good one, they don't leak as much as the Truck pans with the big cleanouts (which are pretty useless with detergent oil, IMO).
Edit: but the car pans don't have the integral bracket that bolts to the clutch cover, they use a separate piece that isn't easy to find.

Can you post a pic of your oil pickup?

 

1948/53 239 trucks:

8RT-6622-B .. Oil Pump Screen, Tube & Cover Assy / Obsolete

OBSOLETE RELIABLE PARTS in Nashville GA has 2 = 229-686-5101.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8RT-6675-B .. Oil Pan with clean-out plate / Obsolete

No Ford dealer or obsolete parts vendor has any.

 

Ross. Photos tomorrow.

Bill. Thanks!

 

Here ya go
Oil Pump Pickup Cover Assembly Oil Filter 1948 Ford Truck Rat Hot Rod Custom | eBay

BTW, 2" off the bottom of any of the pans is not the Full mark. I don't doubt you were sucking air at times, but the normal level is higher than that.

 

Looks the same as the one on the engine. Only difference could be the angle the flange is attached to the tube. Pics tomorrow.

Found this too.
Flathead Ford V8 Oil Pump Pickup Tube

 

This is out of a truck. From centerline of the tube at the pump to bottom of the bowl is right at 4".

 

Here's the pick up. I'll take a photo with the pan on and some photos of the bearing shells when I get them off in a little while. Just need to get the grass cut.....



8BA oil pump pick up

 

Offhand I'd say that's the right pickup but bent up. Is the tube loose in the flange at the pump?

 

It does look bent doesn't it? It's not loose in any way, I already tried to bend it back down by hand and it's not moving. I'll get the pan back on and take a photo through the clean-out to give a better idea as to just how much higher it really is. It can probably be bent back to where it needs to be in a vise with a little heat.

 

Here's a comparison of a Car pickup to the Truck pickup. The Car piece is out of a shoebox Ford, which IIRC has a sump a little further forward to clear the tie rods. No question yours is not a Car piece. Both have the same depth to bottom of inlet bowl, right at 4"




Pic not loading??

 

Here's the space between the pick up and pan. I can get 3 fingers side by side in the gap.



And here is why. Yes the pick up is crushed. How did that happen?



And here's the result. #8 and #4 rod bearings look like this.





Looks like I have my winter project.................

Any recommendations for a knowledgeable flat head machine shop in the Charlotte area?

 

Those two rods get oil 1st so I'd guess your mains are just as bad. There are pans with a flat baffle across, with a hole for the pickup bowl to pass thru. If someone tried to use one of those and didn't get the bowl thru the hole, it could bend the pickup, but I would think it would be real obvious something was wrong. More likely someone set the block without pan on the floor, or the engine ran into a stump.

On the Ford Barn, they had a thread where people were supposed to post only shops they had experience with, and these NC shops were posted. Not sure how close they are to you. No experience with any of them.

PS - let me know if you need a different crank or rods

Clint Bivens 910-787-4135 (Flathead Engine Re builder) 229 EL Meyers RD, Lexington NC 27295

Temple Classic Re-builders 704-956-4438 Jay Temple (Specialty unknown) Route 22, Box 4042 Lexington NC 27292

Bob Gustafson Machine Shop 828-926-3743 P.O. Box 1618, Maggie Valley, NC 28751